Strange Happenings
by Zodiyak
Summary: I never really thought about dying until I actually did. I could also safely say I never expected to be reborn into a fictional universe with insanely powerful people- people with real, dangerous superpowers. But when life gives you another chance, make the best of it. And I planned on doing just that. OC Fic
1. Intro: Part I

In my past life I had never really considered reincarnation as being real. Yes, my past life, as in I was wrong about reincarnation, apparently. Sure, I knew about the concept but in a distant sort of way, like reading about it in fantastical stories and various legends on Earth. I knew it involved being reborn into a new body but, you know, I could have sworn they weren't supposed to retain memories from their past life. Of course, I just _had_ to be proved wrong on all counts and it felt just like being hit with a particularly large truck.

* * *

I was reborn on December 1st to a woman with a kind voice, my new mother. I couldn't say I remember much of those first months, to be honest. The crippling fear and confusion of the memory of sudden death combined with my new tiny, baby shaped body and limitations blurred the days together in ways I would gladly never revisit again. Those long, long days were the hardest I had ever been through for both of my lives at that point. I had nobody to talk to, leaving me to wallow in my thoughts and fears but the soothing nature and warm presence of my brand new mother helped a little bit, thankfully. But for a while, not much could pierce the fog that my insane circumstances had shrouded me in. The worst of all, I think, was coming to terms with the fact I would probably never see my family or friends again. Mom, Dad, my younger brother and sister. All of the hard work I had put into university, scattered to the wind. I was the only one left to remember the accomplishments I had built up over my lifetime. I wasn't sure if it was kind of selfish to fuss over the things I had done well in my past life, but they meant a lot to me.

It just took just a single person, one time for my luck to turn against me, for my life to end.

The day I had finally forced myself to pull myself together and think about moving on was difficult. I had spiralled into that state and I hadn't wanted to put the effort into pulling myself out. However, that day I realized I couldn't change what fate had dealt, but I could play the cards I was given to the best of my abilities and start anew. I already knew how to avoid many of the mistakes I had made in my youth of my previous life, I knew how to commit and to try to live up to responsibilities. I wanted to be a good person, _was going to be a good person_ , and here was another chance to make the best of how I lived my life.

And I would work as hard as I possibly could to be the best person I could be no matter what.

* * *

My name was Kayoko. I had picked up on this fairly quickly, despite not understanding almost anything that came out of my mother's mouth as it seemed to be all in Japanese. Names tended to stick out even in foreign languages, I supposed. I could pick up words, and more rarely, the idea of what was being said here and there from what I could remember from my past life. Luckily, despite technically having an adult soul, I thought I might still have had the learning fluidity of a child, or at least enough of it to learn a language as different from my first language. The fact that Japanese had not one, not two, but three entire alphabets was to say the least, scary to even think about learning. Not to mention that Kanji was on some entire other level with all of the symbols to learn. I had definitely cried just a little bit when I remembered that.

Good thing crying didn't look weird on babies!

I hadn't been the worst student in my university language classes, but I definitely learned Japanese faster now than learning languages back then. Although, it could have had something to do with the fact that I was thoroughly immersed in the language this time around, not having English to fall back on when I forgot a word or was tired of the brain effort of speaking a new language.

There were many days in the first years of my life where my mom would take the time to flip through colorful picture books, carefully and slowly pronouncing the picture on that page for me. She liked talking out loud to me, singing lullabies with me in her ams, commenting on things I did. It didn't take too long for me to start remembering words at a more rapid pace than before. At some point, the retention became exponential and words started building on each other, grouping together in my mind. But for a little while, I hadn't been able to put any of it to use. My cursed baby tongue had been too stiff and unused to talking that all I could do was babble and make adorable noises. I mean, the adorable part was a given no matter what with my rosy baby cheeks and gummy smile, but I wanted to be adorable _and_ capable of communication. Sometimes the charades my mom and I played when I wanted something got a little out of hand.

In the night, I would practice shaping words, getting the pronunciation down, getting my tongue accustomed to flexibility and shaping words again. I truly wasn't able to stand not being able to speak any longer after a few months of only having my thoughts and I. I had tried to be as quiet as possible, only letting the barest of noise slip through my lips. Mom tended to stay up late in the living room, drawing beautiful calligraphy and symbols on scrolls of varying sizes.

Her name was Sakue, and she was one of the most beautiful women I think I had ever seen, once my useless baby eyes had finally developed to even see, God bless. Smooth, vibrant red hair fell down to her mid-back and bright green eyes crinkled at the corners when she found something amusing. We spent many hours dancing together, me in her arms and her hair swirling with the movement, like a dream. Not going to lie, I kind of hoped I inherited at least some of her appearance. I don't know what my other parent looked like, so that was kind of a wild card. One day, after constant pondering on what I looked like, I finally caved and just asked for a mirror. Seeing a stranger stare back at me, mirroring the actions I performed, really tripped me out. A shock of red hair popped out at me, the same color and texture as Mom's and her eye shape, but that was about where the similarities ended. Or at least what I could tell from what my young face hinted at what it would look like when I was older. My eyes were an electric sort of blue, and my jawline looked like it might become a little bit more angular when I was older, different from the elegant curve of Mom's. Other than that, I hadn't been sure how my face would change from the chubby baby face I had now.

My mom and I lived alone, there was never really anyone else besides us. We had a small, but tidy house in a small, close-knit village. There was one bedroom for the both of us, a bathroom, and a large room that combined the living room and kitchen. We shared a bed as I was still little. Despite the early months where I couldn't speak or communicate, it was nice sharing a room with her. The human presence, let alone the presence of my mother, however new, was something that kept me sane.

She would take me out to run errands in the village, and I found that I liked the village, everyone there was kind and there was minimal cheek-pinching, which was always good. I was worried about that when she took me to introduce me to the villagers for the first time. Traumatic memories had haunted me from my past life when I had my cheeks pinched to death by older ladies. I especially liked the jolly old man who owned the bakery in town, slipping me sweet dango when my mom wasn't looking. The quiet woman who owned the bookstore who always let me pet her cat when we saw her also wormed her way into my good grace in those early days. Despite my motor control, or absolute lack thereof, I put the utmost focus into petting that cat, and if I squinted, the cat seemed to appreciate not being smacked at, like most young children. I could have been reading too far into things.

Despite not being the richest people in the world, we lived comfortably enough for our small village life. We had a comfortable bed, sturdy furniture, and clean kitchen appliances. Mom was quite the interior decorator, in my opinion, as well. Decorations adorned the walls in a way that was both tasteful and cozy at the same time. Once I had started talking enough at about one and a half-ish, she had let me pick out decorations to put in the bedroom. Various frog decorations got scattered all over the wall the bed was placed against pretty quickly after that conversation. Not as effortlessly beautiful as the decorations my mother had scattered around the house, but you know. Sometimes you gotta have a little frog in your life. Or on your wall.

Overall, I had a very nice new life, and I became content with the slow and steady way the days would flow, learning how to speak and write Japanese, and my mom running me through gentle exercises everyday each morning. Or at least, it was peaceful until the day a small group of people came through town. They were equipped with green vests with a red, swirling insignia. Oh, and headbands with shiny metal plates. You know, like in Naruto. The fictional story that wasn't supposed to exist.

I was almost three years old when my life completely flipped upside down for the first time in what would most likely be a long, strange sequence of my life getting overturned. I was almost three when all of the pieces of the puzzle clicked together. The villagers calling my mom Uzumaki-san, the way she walked without sound, the huge scrolls my mom would painstakingly ink on through some nights.

And all it took was the glint of a Konoha hitai-ate.

 _What the absolute hell._

* * *

Hi! Author here! This is my second go at a Naruto fanfic, as the first time was almost two years ago and my writing along with my story ideas and inspiration has changed since then! I'm a huge sucker for modern characters in stories so I had to do this! Also, yes Kayoko is an Uzumaki! I know there are a lot of Uzumaki Ocs floating around but it plays a part in this story and I just love them so yes

Edit: Sorry about the text glitch I have no idea what happened rip! (Thanks hinatayvonne and ajormetrix for bringing it to my attention :) )


	2. Intro: Part II

_And I had thought reincarnation by itself was wild._

After the somewhat horrifying realization that I had not only been reincarnated, something I thought was impossible, but reincarnated into the _Naruto universe_ , something I thought was even _more_ impossible, I started making sense of more and more things I hadn't really given much thought to before or had been ignoring.

Like the strange feeling that I had been trying to ignore, which I could guess was chakra. I couldn't exactly describe it despite how much I tried to pin it down. Chakra was _me,_ I could feel it in the core of my body, ready to be called upon, maybe like a reserve I knew was there, filled with life or energy. Or something. At first, it was unbearably strange, as my first life and body didn't have chakra. The sensation of that new energy had been incredibly foreign and the fact that I had had no idea what it was and how to get rid of it just made it more irritating. But once I got used to the sensation and identified what it was, it was hard to imagine how to even without it in the first place. Chakra was _everything_ in this universe. It was in the creatures, in the plants, in the _air._ I couldn't feel the chakra in the air, but recalled knowing about it from watching Naruto master Sage Mode in my past life.

Ever since the night I had realized chakra was a real thing and that I could actually use it, I spent the nights manipulating my chakra, testing my limits, trying to control where the chakra went in my body. The nightly exercises were slow going but as I kept them up, I started to feel a little more and more comfortable with how chakra flowed in my body to my command. Or at least, moved to my command slowly. Imagine molasses. That would go away the more I worked with it and probably as my chakra coils developed more as I got older.

Outside of simply having conscious control of where chakra flowed through my body, my chakra control was a little harder to manage than I thought it was going to be. But that might have been due to my large reserves as an Uzumaki. Whenever I would try to mold a smaller amount of chakra anywhere, more would slip through the cracks where my control went lax. Practice makes perfect, I supposed. Plus there was the fact that I was a literal three year old child when I first tried to use chakra, and children my age usually don't even touch their chakra, let alone know what it even is in the first place. I still had years to play with it so I didn't go that hard at molding chakra, especially because it made me and my underdeveloped chakra coils tired and more prone to dozing the day away. Needless to say, my mother was concerned the first time I overextended my chakra limits, as there was a sharp contrast from my usual boundless energy. After that, I was a more careful to not do _that_ again.

The night before my fourth birthday I didn't touch my chakra, I mean, I couldn't be snoozing through my _birthday_. Birthdays had always been important to me in both lives. I enjoyed the time spent with loved ones.

That morning, Mom swept into my room that morning and hauled me out of bed.

"Happy birthday, Kayo-chan," she said, firmly planting a kiss on my forehead. "I can't believe you're getting so big, my beautiful daughter." She squished me in her arms and twirled, a little too fast for my tastes.

 _Oh god, I'm gonna puke._ "I can't breathe!" I complained. _Release! Release!_ Mom set me down, graciously allowing me to gulp in air.

"I wasn't holding you that hard, no need for the drama," she sniffed.

I pointed to myself with an incredulous expression. "I was losing circulation to my _everything_! I think I had the perfect amount of dramatics."

She ruffled my hair before sweeping out of the room. "I'm sure, dear. Breakfast is ready, whenever you can breathe again. I made oyakodon!" She winked before disappearing around the door, leaving me to fix my hair.

 _Oh shoot, I love oyakodon._ I scrambled to the table to dig in. One thing I really appreciated about this life was the food. I had never really had the chance to eat authentic Japanese food in the past, but now I felt so goofy for never doing so, with the variety of foods the country offered. Oyakodon was a rice bowl with chicken and egg, and it was delicious. It also helped that my mom was an _excellent_ cook and since we lived in a village where many of the people nearby owned farms, we had fresh ingredients all the time. Once, there was an attempt to grow a garden in our backyard for a little bit so we had some fresh herbs and veggies, but unfortunately, neither of us had green thumbs and our crops shrivelled up every time. Whatever we had was the absolute opposite of a green thumb. A plant destroying thumb. So, buying from the local market it was.

After we were finished with our meals, Mom slid a list in front of me, switching it with my empty bowl. "Kayo-chan, can you visit these places in the order I've written them down? I need to run some errands, but I know I can trust you with this." And there it was. I had noticed that children in this world tended to have more free reign than in my last life. My mom grew up with a little ninja training, and ninja children seemed to have even more control over their days than normal children. It wasn't like it was unsafe in our village, or at least as unsafe as Earth had been when I died. We lived in a small village somewhere in the Land of Fire, where the only people who passed through were traveling merchants and people on their way to somewhere else. If we were a destination village with many types of people passing through on a regular basis, I wasn't sure if I would have had the same freedom at my age. I had been roaming around the village by myself since I was around three-ish years old. I imagined that the safety for children was even better in hidden villages, as there were ranks of trained soldiers at hand that loomed over any potential kidnappers.

"I can," I agreed, scanning the list. _Ask Yoshihama-san for our order, find this book from the library, etc. Kind of a long list, geez._ "Do you want me to go now?"

"Yes, please. It shouldn't be too much to carry."

I said goodbye, slipping on my shoes and backpack before setting out. Our house sat basically right outside of the main part of the village, so it wasn't too much of a trek for my four year old legs. Various villagers said hello as I passed, and I returned the greeting cheerfully. I had built up a reputation as being a smart child in the village, because you know. Adult mind and all. This truly came in handy as the adults enjoyed having conversations with me and treated me with a degree of respect. Of course, I was definitely still a child in their eyes, but I would take what I could get. I had taken my adult freedom from my last life too much for granted, and sometimes being treated like the kid I physically was was grating. Oh well, at least I had gotten used to it enough to where I would just grin and bear it. On the flip side, being so tiny and cute worked in my favor when the merchants in town would slip me something extra or I could wear down even the ever stubborn fishmonger from the huge nearby lake-town when he tried to stiff the prices. Nobody could resist my adorable child face for long.

Another thing that was nice about my village was that there was no ninja suspicion and paranoia. I honestly had no idea what I would do when faced with those infamous ninja personality traits with my strange behavior from birth. If I had been born into a hidden village, my life might have been different. Despite the fact that my mom had some ninja training, she never seemed to be put off by my higher than normal intelligence for my age. She could have seen it happen with many ninja children in her lifetime. I mean, I couldn't say I was the _most mature person_ in the world in general. But, I had a longer attention span and understood basic etiquette more than the other children in the village, despite the fact I had originally come from a culture with different standards from theirs, so I guess it was fine enough in their eyes. Honestly, I was still getting used to the culture, like the honorifics and bowing. Mom still had to nudge me when I forgot to use an honorific, but I would get it someday.

I walked out of the bakery waving goodbye to the baker, and glanced down at the list. _Halfway through!_ _Next is the stationary shop for more ink._ _I guess Mom is close to running out_. The stationary shop was down the street, past the local hot springs. Mom took me last week to try out the springs for the first time, as she apparently felt I was old enough to not drown. The experience was _heaven._ My worried had lifted away, my muscles relaxed, I loved it. If I could spend the rest of my life in a hot spring, it wouldn't be enough.

I started to pass the onsen, but my ears caught a strange noise carried by the wind.

 _What…?_ I gripped the straps of my pack and decided to investigate, heading to the back of the building. The… giggling?- became louder the closer I got to the back. Stepping out from the side wall, I froze. A tall man with a long, unruly white ponytail, red and green outfit, and wooden sandals had his face pressed to the wooden walls, peering through a gap.

My mouth dropped open. I was so far removed from Konoha that I hadn't expected any of the Naruto characters to come through my tiny village, let alone _Jiraiya of the freaking Sannin_. _One of the most powerful people in this universe._ I didn't even know my age compared to any of the Naruto characters, I could have been years ahead of canon or years after. Knowing I lived in the Naruto universe versus seeing _real proof_ of characters I had adored watching were two completely different things. I couldn't identify the feelings I felt upon realizing who I was looking at, but boy howdy they were strong. I probably stood there for a couple of minutes just staring like an idiot, but lucky for me Jiraiya was too preoccupied with ogling naked women to notice me there. At some point, eons later, I shook myself back to reality, but the starstruck feeling lingered.

"H-hey!" I shouted before I could stop myself, my body acting before my mind. "What are you doing?" Jiraiya's head snapped in my direction, a loud noise of dismay escaping him as the ladies inside screamed and left the onsen.

"Jeez, brat, look what you've gone and done," he groaned and leveled me with a glare.

I gaped. "Me? You were the one being weird!"

"I'm gathering material for my next book, you know! I'm a very famous author." He jabbed his thumb to his chest, grinning at his exclamation. Of course, I knew who he was and why he was at the onsen, but it was way funnier to play at ignorance.

"You need to spy on naked ladies for your books? What kind of books are you even writing?" I placed my hand on my chin in thought. He spluttered.

"Brats like you don't need to know what I write! Your mother might have heard of me, though," he seemed to have a revelation that I didn't want to particularly encourage.

A laugh bubbled up in my throat. _Mom is off limits no matter how much I love your character, thanks._ "Hm, maybe! What's your name, then?"

Jiraiya laughed heartily before puffing up and sliding into a dramatic pose that I thought was supposed to inflict awe on the viewer but made me giggle. "I am the great Jiraiya-sama, sage of Mount Myouboku and super perv-. Ahem. I'm sure you've heard of me!"

I hummed, considering it for a while, drawing out the illusion of going through my memory. "Sorry, nah. Can I have another hint?"

The smug look on his face slid off, replaced with a scowl. "Another hi-?" Standing up and crossing his arms, he harrumphed. "My hard work and fame is wasted on little girls like you. I'll have to finish my research another day. I hear the town over has a ton of beautiful women." Suddenly, smoke billowed out from where he was standing and he disappeared with a loud _poof_. I shouted in surprise at his sudden escape.

"You can't just disappear when you decide you're done with a conversation! _Hey!_ " Jiraiya was nowhere in sight. Despite the fact that he just suddenly bailed on the conversation _,_ I couldn't help but be amazed. _Wow ninja techniques are so cool!_

* * *

I rushed through the rest of the list, hurrying as fast as I could back to the house with my stuffed backpack. The whole trip had only taken a few hours, max.

"Mom! Mom! Guess what!" I shouted, running up to the door. There was no response, so she was probably in the backyard. I kicked my shoes off and threw the bag on the table before rushing to the back door. There wasn't anything fragile in the bag anyway. Oh wait, the bread. It was too late now and it was probably fine.

"Mom!" I pulled open the door, with some difficulty, curse my four year old height, and was hit with an explosion of noise.

" _Happy Birthday Kayoko!_ " Almost every single villager was clustered in my backyard with huge grins and festive party hats. My jaw dropped in shock for the second time that day. I looked around and there were tables of delicious looking food, a huge birthday cake, and did I spot a table of presents? How did everyone slip away to my house so sneakily? Mom broke away from the group and crouched down in front of me, her eyes crinkling with a smile.

I blinked hard. "Is this… all for me?" I said, slowly.

"Of course! It is your birthday isn't it? And birthdays are very special especially when it means my very own daughter is _four_ already!" Pulling a party hat from behind her back, she fitted it around my head, smoothing my chin length hair down underneath it. "There we go! You look very festive! Now, come enjoy your party!"

Overcome with happiness, I grinned and rushed to greet everyone. When I said everyone came to this party, I meant everyone. The elderly ladies who would get together to gossip and drank tea at the local tea house were chatting in that corner over there. The tailor and the bookstore owner were perusing the selection of food, the baker was hovering over his masterpiece of a cake, and even the grumpy fishmonger was having a friendly conversation with one of the merchants. That doesn't even account for all of the townspeople and their children.

I got pulled into a raucous game of tag with the local band of children my age, naturally I won the couple of games we played, despite the fact that older children with longer legs were playing. Not because I'm smarter or anything I just liked to think I was a pro at playing tag. An expert, if you will. We played for quite a while before Mom called for the party's attention.

"Hello, all! Thank you for coming to Kayo-chan's party, we are cutting the cake now and afterwards we will open the presents!" Yoshihama, the baker, set to cutting the cake. I doubted he would let anyone else cut the cake, as it seemed he put a lot of time into it. It was a beautiful two-tiered cake, colored a foresty green- my favorite color- and decorated with baby blue frogs. I have never loved a cake upon sight so much in my lives.

Everyone dug into the delicious cake with gusto, the baker's hard work really shining through, much to his pride and satisfaction. As everyone finished their cake, I was swept up and placed onto a table.

"Okay, dear, I'm going to hand the presents to you. Don't forget to thank everyone for their nice gifts, " Mom said, already handing me the first one. I enjoyed opening all of them. They were fairly standard birthday gifts like clothes, coloring books, and regular books. When I opened the large box of socks, one of the village grandmothers caught my eye and told me she knew I must run through socks like crazy with all the running around I do, and winked at me. I bowed and thanked each person sincerely, unable to stop smiling. I wasn't expecting my fourth birthday to be such a big deal, but I was glad it turned out like this, surrounded by the friends I had made in my new life.

Mom handed me the last wrapped present to me with a whisper, "This one is from me." I tore the wrapping off of the small box, before opening the flaps with care. A small, tan book rested inside with the title of _The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi_. I almost laughed at the sheer coincidence of meeting it's author that very same day. A picture slid out of the book when I gingerly cracked it open. The faces of Mom and I were clear on the picture, laughing at something happening behind the camera. We looked very alike in the picture, our red hair flared with our movement and eyes crinkling in the same way. I flipped it over.

The back read: _Dear Kayoko, my beloved daughter, I love you more than anything else in this world. From the moment I laid eyes on you and that little fluff of red hair you got from me, I knew I would do anything for you. I look forward to seeing you turn into a beautiful person. Love, Mom._ A tear dropped on the picture and I suddenly realized I was crying.

I couldn't believe how lucky I was to be born to someone who loved me like my Mom did. She would never replace my first mother, but she didn't have to. I loved them both with my whole heart and I didn't know how I managed to hit the parent jackpot in both of my lives. I looked up to see my mom watching my reaction with a concerned look on her face. Oh right, I was crying.

Scrubbing at my eyes, I smiled widely. "I love it so much!" Mom's face softened in relief and she slid me into her lap, squeezing me briefly.

"A friend showed me that story when you were born, and I thought you would like it, since you always go to that bookstore. I once met the man who wrote that book, did you know he's a ninja? He saved my life when I was a young girl, but he probably doesn't remember me," she said, petting my hair.

"What's his name?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer.

"His name is Jiraiya, a strong ninja from Konoha."

"Oh, I met him today, in town," I said, gleefully anticipating the reaction. All of the adults listening went through varying degrees of surprise.

" _Here?_ My goodness, what is a powerful ninja like that doing in a small village like this?" One of the village grandmothers exclaimed.

Mom started laughing, "I suppose I'll never understand how much power coincidences have! Is he still here?"

I shrugged. "I don't think so." The conversation moved on.

* * *

I was exhausted by the time the party finished, nodding off as the village people were leaving, barely managing to bow and thank each person. Sometimes, I forgot how much children slept and that I couldn't just stay awake out of sheer force of will.

I barely remembered Mom drawing the covers up over my shoulders before I fell soundly asleep.

* * *

 **A/N** : The setup continues


	3. Intro: Part III

Moonlight trickled through the window when I startled awake, alone in the bedroom. Mom wasn't in the room, which wasn't really that unusual. But for some reason, this time felt different. I slipped off the bed and walked, footsteps soft. As I cracked open the door, I saw Mom standing by the window, her entire body tense.

"Mom?" I whispered, afraid to break the weighted silence. Her head whipped towards me before she strode over and crouched in front of me. I didn't like the fear in her eyes.

"Kayo-chan, I need you to to pack up what you need and what you need only," she whispered. My gut twisted at the verbal confirmation that I wasn't the only one who had a bad feeling.

"Mom, what's going on? Are we leaving?" Against my will, fear crept into my voice.

"We don't have time, darling. Hurry!" She stood up and strode over to the drawers, yanking them open. I stood there, paralyzed, struck by a memory.

* * *

 _My keys rattled in the door, turning them made difficult by the large amount of grocery bags weighing down my arms. I probably could have made two trips, but it was cold outside, and I didn't want to face the freezing temperatures again. Besides, it was good exercise, right?_

 _I left my snow-covered boots at the door and hurried to put the bags down, my poor arms were losing circulation. Slinging my coat over one of the dining table chairs, I started to put away the groceries. As I put the milk in the fridge, a noise sounded from further in. My heart jumped into my throat. I definitely hadn't imagined that noise, but I lived alone and my apartment complex didn't allow pets._

 _The knives were by the sink, and I grabbed one, clenching it with a white-knuckled grip, and crept further into my apartment. I checked each room carefully but there was nothing. Finally, I peered into the open door of my room-_

 _A figure twisted from behind the door and_ shoved, _bringing us down in a tangled heap of limbs. We grappled for control, but it only took a second for my attacker to flip the knife in my hand into my gut._

 _I never expected to die like this, not barely into adulthood, not in my apartment, bleeding out into the carpet. The intruder was frozen, hands hovering over the knife handle._

" _I'm sorry, oh god. I just need money, I didn't-" The voice cut off, and I heard running footsteps and a door slam, far away._

 _The last thing I recalled before I died is that she had blue eyes, too young, too tired._

* * *

" _Kayoko, now!"_ My heart seized and I hurried to comply, terror making my movements jerky.

We stuffed as much as we could into bags, the silence choking the air. I couldn't feel time passing.

And then. Then the screaming started.

"Damn! Damn it!" Mom slammed her hands on the dresser and I flinched violently. "We need to leave." She yanked the bags' zippers shut and pulled down one of the various scrolls on the wall. With a pulse of chakra, our bags were sealed away. Slinging the strap of the scroll around her back, she grabbed my hand and tugged me along. We hurried to the back door before Mom stopped me, with a hand holding me back and a finger to her lips. I nodded, eyes wide.

Turning the door handle slowly, carefully, she peered outside before sliding out, pausing in the middle of the backyard before beckoning me. She gathered me into her arms.

"Hold on tight," she murmured, muscles tensing to _run_ and-

 _Fwish._ Metal glinted in the light of the moon. For a second, there was a pressure on my back, but before I could bink, she twisted and I was tumbling from her grip, rolling in the grass some feet away. My ears caught the sound of her collapsing to the ground a few seconds after me, groaning in pain.

 _No , no, no._ My legs weren't listening to me, I needed to get back to see if Mom was hurt. I scanned the dark yard. _There_. She was sprawled out, but starting to sit up again, and relief crashed into me, giving me the strength to _move._

"Mom! Are you-" My voice cut off with a strangled noise. A kunai stuck out of her ribs, polished metal shining cruelly. I couldn't speak, couldn't breathe, mouth working to say something, anything. Her hands twitched around the kunai, wanting to grasp but shying away. Blood trickled out of her mouth and her breaths were short. A punctured lung.

 _Was that what I felt? The second before a kunai sank into my back? Did she… take the hit for me? Is this my fault?_

Defeat dragged her shoulders down. I had never seen it on her. Mom had always been the one to find a solution to any problem and face it with shoulders squared and a smile. She had always been the one to treat anyone with respect even if they weren't returning the favor. But never once had I seen the ugliness of realizing there was no other choice, nothing she could do.

"I love you so much, Kayoko. I need you to know that," she said, drawing me into her lap. "I love you." I clung to her shirt, sobs tearing out of my lungs.

"You can't leave me, you can't. You can get better! There's a hospital the next village over! You have ninja training right, you can heal until we're at the hospital, right?" I barely managed to get the words out, gasping. Her hands ran over my face, smoothing my back my hair, gentle as they always were.

"No, darling. You know I don't have enough training for that," she said. I did know it. Mom had learned some basic chakra techniques from ninja she had known, but nowhere near the skill needed to heal a deep kunai between the ribs. Her mother, my grandmother, had passed down her knowledge of making seals, and not much else. She was going to start teaching me this year.

"You know I won't make it, Kayoko. You've always been such a smart girl, I could never believe it. From the moment you were born, you always understood things past your age, you made raising you _so_ easy. I was so lucky to be your mother, I love you, _so so much_."

I couldn't draw enough in breath to reply, hands twisting in her shirt but careful to avoid the kunai. Mom placed kisses on my forehead, my cheeks, my nose. "I need you to take this scroll and run as fast as you can." Mom pressed the scroll in my hands, wrapping my fingers around it. It wasn't a super large or heavy scroll, about two feet in length, but it almost felt too heavy to bear.

"WIthout you?" My voice came out small, already knowing the answer.

"Yes, my love. I will always be with you, forever. I'm so sorry I couldn't see you grow up but I know you will make the right decisions and become a beautiful woman, follow your heart, and treat everyone with respect. I love you, now _go."_ She squeezed me one last time. I didn't want to let go, but I did.

"I love you too, I'll do my best to become a daughter you would be proud of, I promise!" I backed away, not wanting to let her out of my sight. She smiled at me encouragingly.

"Turn around, dear, and don't look back no matter what happens."

I slowly turned around. I had to force my feet to move, it felt like my feet were weighed down. I heard something land in the yard.

"Leaving your brat to fend for herself? Hm, not like she can do anything. By the time she makes it to the next village we'll be gone, anyway. If she even makes it that long," an unfamiliar man spoke from behind me and I glanced back for a second. The clouds moved, a moonbeam illuminating a man. Long blue hair was pulled back into a ponytail and a sneer pulled at his facial features in an ugly way. In his hands, a long katana glinted.

Behind him, the village burned, large flames leaping across rooftops.

I _hated_ this. Every instinct, every memory with her, told me to run back, to stay. I wanted to be selfish, to be with her, but I couldn't. I had to live and be the person she wanted me to be. Although I had only spent four short years with this village and its people, it was my home now. If I wasn't too small, too insignificant, too powerless, I could save her, drive the attack on the village off. But I _was_ all those things. So I turned my back to the man, to the village, and ran. My throat closed around a scream and tears flowed down my face, but I ran.

* * *

Every breath I took _burned._ I didn't know how long I had been running, stuck in a numb state of _left, right, left, right._ My tears had dried on my face long ago and it felt like every inch of exposed skin had been scratched open by reaching branches and bushes. I caught a glimpse of the moon, but I couldn't remember where it had been in the sky when I had started to run. There was a hollow under a tree, and my feet started to move towards it subconsciously.

 _Just a few minutes of rest,_ the thought was hazy, like in a dream. Settling into the tiny, cramped area within the tree roots, blackness overtook me within seconds.

* * *

When I awoke, sun was cutting through the gaps in the roots, and I hauled myself out from the hollow. The attackers had only attacked the village to rob it, leaving nothing and nobody behind. If they struck in the cover of the night, they must have been gone by now. But despite this, I didn't think I could handle seeing the village yet. Every single person, gone. The tips of my fingers felt numb and I felt like my emotions had run dry, utterly exhausted.

I started walking, time slipping by. Before I knew it, I was walking out of the trees and onto a dirt road. Right into a surprised Jiraiya.

"The girl from the village…?" He murmured to himself. His eyebrows furrowed in shock as he took in my sorry state, gnarled hair and puffy eyes and all.

Relief crashed over me. _Safety…_ I collapsed as if my strings had been cut, a shout of _Hey!_ faintly reaching me. The last thing I remembered before slipping away was a strong pair of arms lifting me up.

* * *

I was cocooned in soft blankets. Blinking my eyes open to an unfamiliar wooden ceiling, I sat up. My arms, legs, and neck were wrapped in bandages and I was dressed in a soft yukata. The sound of the door sliding open caught my attention, and I turned to look. Jiraiya walked in, looking weary, but he seemed to realize I was awake and smiled instead, maybe in the realization that I was four and small children usually tended to pick up on emotions easily.

"Ah, you're awake. How're you feeling?" He said, settling down on a cushion at the large window.

I swallowed. My throat felt like a desert. "Thirsty." He handed me a cup of water that had been sitting on a table next to my futon, to which I thanked him quietly. I chugged it, gripping the glass like a lifeline.

Jiraiya seemed to be thinking of what to say. Civilian children were different from ninja children in many ways, including how they handled traumatic events, and I could tell he was trying to figure out how I would react. I spared him the pain.

"Is everyone dead?"

He closed his eyes at my blunt question. "If anyone made it out, I can't be sure," he said. "Everyone had a proper burial, that was the least I could do."

"Oh." I couldn't think of anything to say. My fingers and toes felt cold, like nothing in the world, not the hottest day of summer nor a warm campfire could make me warm again. The thing that got me the most was that everything happened so fast. Not twenty-four hours ago, I had been enjoying my birthday party with my mom and the village folks. One night was all it took to erase all of it, everything the village had, everything I had. I wished I had gotten something more from the man, a name or even a group.

But all I got was the memory of his face burned into my brain.

* * *

For the next following nights, and what felt like months instead of a sole week, my sleep was plagued by the same nightmare.

 _A wickedly sharp katana plunged through Mom's chest. Betrayal in her eyes, hands reaching out to me._

" _Kayoko, why? Why did you leave me?" Her voice warped and twisted strangely. I shook my head frantically, trying to deny it, but when I tried to move to her, my feet were stuck._

" _I didn't leave! I'm still here!" No matter how hard I struggled against the invisible weights holding me down, I didn't budge._

" _My own daughter, a coward. I don't remember raising a child like that," she said, turning away from me. "Disgusting."_

" _No! I'm here, let me help you!" My throat was raw from screaming. I looked at each villager behind her, the looks in their eyes unbearable. "I'm not going anywhere, please!"_

 _A puff of breath on the back of my neck and, "What a pathetic little girl." I had forgotten about the man. Stupid! How could I Let my guard down? Suddenly, that sneer, inches away from my face. "We'll meet again."_

Bolting upright, I clutched at my chest, panting. Jiraiya was gone, the comfort and now somewhat familiarity of his lump of blankets gone. I was alone in the room.

I tried going back to bed but I couldn't find the strength to close my eyes in the dark room. Every shadow, every gust of wind against the walls outside felt like a nightmare coming alive. My skin wouldn't stop crawling. A growl of frustration bubbled out of my throat, I was an adult, damnit! My technically child brain probably had something to do with this.

And no, I wasn't denying anything.

A sigh slipped out and I slid my shoes on.

The bar wasn't very far. Drunk villagers stumbled out of the building every now and then, laughing merrily on their way back to their homes. The sight of the antics eased my anxiety a little.

Jiraiya was in a booth with a few women and a small collection of empty sake bottles, his laughs easy to hear from the entrance. I hesitated as to whether or not I should interrupt his night out, not leaving the doorway, but he spotted me before I had the chance. Too late.

Something must have shown on my face because he scooted out of the booth after a long squint in my direction. I could vaguely hear the ladies complain at his sudden exit, and he bowed with all his usual grandeur, probably promising a later date, before making his way out.

Guilt layered on top of the mess of whatever my brain was doing at the moment, dragging someone else's night down because I couldn't stop seeing wicked swords in every shadow.

"Nightmare?" He asked after a few moments of silence, leading the way past the inn. I spared the building a glance and walked faster to keep up with his long strides.

"Yeah." I answered. "The same one."

He tilted his chin up, looking at the stars. The sky was beautiful and clear. It was strange at first seeing stars, albeit different stars, all the time without the light pollution from Earth. We walked all the way to the local lake in silence, the water calm and black. I waited to see if he was going to say anything else, but he seemed perfectly content to stargaze.

"How do you do it?" I choked out after a long silence and he looked down at me. "How can you lose someone- _everyone_ \- and move on? As if they deserved the fate they got and I was _lucky? Who gets to decide that?_ I mean, they put so much work into their lives- their businesses and families! And some asshole can just wipe it away because he wants to be rich?" My voice had raised into a shout and opening the metaphorical floodgates had me panting in anger. I took a shuddering breath and started again.

"How am I supposed to move on?"

"Wake from death and return to life," Jiraiya said.

... _What?_ My thoughts ground to a halt and I must have looked dumbfounded because he continued.

"You know, it's alright to be afraid. Being afraid means… you're still alive, for one. Shows you're smart enough to realize when things are going south," he ruffled my hair, forcing me to shuffle a few feet away to avoid the reaching hand. "It can stop you from doing dumb things, too. Like, hmm, peeping on someone who can punch a mountain to sand," he said, not really sounding that regretful, actually.

Gee, I wondered who this someone was.

"Use that fear as an opportunity to do something brave or to focus on the future. You can take that feeling and become strong enough to just _whittle_ it down until most things don't scare you anymore, you see? Just run with it- turn it into that driving force that'll push you to be a person you can be proud of being. You're right, this world we live in isn't fair a lot of the time. People who have no value for human life can gain enough power to abuse it, and becoming strong enough to do something about it is hard. And it may never be possible to stop all of it, but at least for me, it helped to become strong enough to at least have an impact on part of it.

"You don't have to move on just like that or shut away what you feel. Things like this get better with time."

Jiraiya was right, probably all that sage wisdom or whatever. I had been pushing my emotions down, trying to squash them under the notion that I was technically an adult. Like I was supposed to be able to mentally categorize everything that had happened, move on, and then do something about it. As if it was supposed to be easy as that. When it came down to being _human_ and all of the unpredictability and feelings and confusion that comes with it, I hadn't known how to deal with it. I mean, the worst I had dealt with in my past life was a grandparent dying. I had never truly faced death and it's cold numbness before, and looking back, I wasn't sure why I tried so hard to pretend it hadn't happened. Ignoring the fact that this was nothing like Earth would do me no favors.

"How can I do that? Turn fear into something better?" I looked up at him, and he crossed his arms contemplatively.

"Ah, like when something unexpected happens like _this-_ " His arms snapped out and I found myself tumbling into the lake. The water was only about a foot deep where I landed, but _still._ I sat up, sputtering with outrage and pushing my wet hair back from my face.

" _How is this the best time to be pushed into a lake?"_

"You take the unexpected and the fear and you turn it into something better! Wake from death and return to life! It means to turn a dire situation into success," he said, placing his hands on his hips.

After a few moments of stunned staring, I was unable to stop the incredulous noises from bubbling up. This whole situation was ridiculous. I was being given inspiring advice from an anime character I once watched on a screen, and now I was sitting in a lake, sopping wet. I forgot how Jiraiya liked to push buttons. Or people into lakes, I guessed. I looked up at the stars, winking down at us.

 _Pretending nothing had happened wasn't the way to go_.

"Can we go to the village tomorrow?"

"Sure, kid."

"Oh, and one more question. Does your hair take a long time to dry?"

"Don't even try it- _hey!"_

I laughed for what felt like the first time in ages, latching onto the length of his ponytail. Things would be okay, I thought.

* * *

EDIT: 01/01/19

I changed the order of events I had planned for how Kayoko coped with her situation so this chapter changed a lot!


	4. On the Road: Part I

Warning: Violence and death implied.

* * *

A/N: Hi! If you're reading this having already read the first three chapters as I post this, you may want to go back and reread the second half of chapter three! The order in which I had the story was written was a little confusing for what I was going for so I have already changed it! Thank you! The first part of this chapter used to be at the end of chapter three with a little editing.

* * *

Dawn had just broken when we left the inn.

We walked the way there, which wasn't that far, given we had been staying the next town over. Jiraiya probably could have gotten us there faster, but I don't think I could have rushed it. Each step closer brought a strange emotion. Along the way, I collected handfuls of the colorful wildflowers scattered along the roadside, Jiraiya watching on in silence.

 _Oh._

We stopped where the entrance to town used to be. You almost couldn't tell there had been a town here once, every building basically flattened. Each house, every shop, the old bookstore, the bakery, was burnt to the ground, black smears where they used to be. My house with the little frog decorations. As we walked through the streets, I could almost see what each building looked like, phantoms of people bustling in and out. I couldn't look away.

He led me to a clearing behind the village. I used to play here with the local kids, long games of tag, or whatever game they could think of, would run into the night. More than once, parents would come to collect their rowdy children. Mom never did, she knew I would come right home, sparing her the trip. Despite not really being a child, I enjoyed the games. I had always gotten along with most children in my past, my family had always joked that I must have never grown up despite growing older and that they could sense a kindred spirit. In that aspect, nothing had changed. Of course, I wasn't the same, really. Sometimes I would be at a loss for words at the thought process of the kids, or the adults would comment to my mother how I was different, more deliberate child. But games were games, and kids were funny.

Now, rows upon rows of fresh graves laid out before my eyes. I placed a flower gingerly on each grave, spending a few minutes speaking to each person. I didn't know who each grave held, but they deserved my thanks for making the village a home and to rest in peace. The sun slipped down the sky as time passed spent moving from grave to grave.

Finally, I came to a grave that was slightly set apart from the rest. Somehow, I already knew who was buried there, and Jiraiya might have too. I settled down with my legs crossed, placing the handful of flowers I had left on the grave.

"Hi, Mom," I started, hesitating for a bit. I had never had to talk to a grave before, but after a moment, words came sort of unbidden. "I'll keep my promise, don't worry. I'll make friends and treat everyone like you wanted me to. And I'll get really strong! I need to be strong so that I can protect the people I love so this will never have to happen again. It'll be hard, I guess, but I mean, um, it isn't supposed to be easy, right? And it's worth it! To have friends you can protect! Well, they won't have to be my friends all of the time, maybe they'll be strangers who need help or something."

Tears had started to stream down my face, and I let them, curling my fingers into the dirt. My breath started to get shaky and I slumped into the dirt, chest heaving with sobs. I wished with all my heart that none of this had happened. That I could grow up with my mom and maybe become a baker, surpassing even our local baking master. I wished that everyone was still okay. But I couldn't wish away things that had already come to pass. All I could do was live on in their memories and become strong so my fear would get whittled away. So I could help others.

After what felt like an eternity, my sobs shuddered to a stop, the tears stopped coming, and I pulled myself back into an upright position. Wiping the wetness off my face, I found my voice again.

"I promise to visit again someday! When I become strong enough to protect people, I'll tell you all about it. I love you." Standing up and brushing the dirt off my pants, I walked over to where Jiraiya was leaning against a tree, sitting cross legged. Even if it wasn't his intention, I appreciated him giving me space and letting me say my goodbyes, especially since half of the time he spent sitting here was time listening to me bawl directly into the dirt.

"Are you ready to go?" He said. I looked down at the ground for a second, then nodded, meeting his eyes.

"Yeah. I think I am."

The sun set as we walked out of the clearing.

* * *

Dinner that day was a fairly quiet affair, we were focused on shoving as much food as possible into our mouths. Or at least, it was until Jiraiya broke the silence.

"So, kid. What did you mean when you said you would become powerful?" He said, chewing on his ramen noodles.

"You said you're super powerful right? Sages are powerful right? You could just train me!" I paused in shovelling my meal in my mouth to grin at him. Jiraiya spit his chewed up noodles out, all over my face. "Gross! What was that for!"

 _Blech blech blech,_ I dove for a napkin and scrubbed the food off my face.

Jiraiya was _howling_ with laughter, holding his sides. I stood up, huffily. I didn't think it warranted _that_ much laughing! I mean, yeah I was only four, but plenty of ninja children probably started at least a little ninja training that young.

"Hey! Quit laughing! I might be a kid but I can still learn stuff!" He only flapped a hand at my yelling as he descended into wheezing. Minutes passed and he was still going. I could have straight up left he would not notice at all. I almost did, but instead finished my ramen because it was delicious and I was hungry.

Finally, he wound down, wiping tears away from the corners of his eyes. "Ahh, you're pretty funny, brat! I haven't laughed that hard in a while!" He said, still chortling. I glared at him out of the corner of my eye, but my cursed baby face didn't exactly portray the stink eye quite right.

"I don't think it was funny at all," I grumbled before turning to face him fully. "I mean, I just thought since you said you were some great sage or whatever! But I guess you're just some random phony, after all." Sighing, I placed my chin in my hands. Jiraiya's eyebrow twitched in irritation. Success.

"First of all, I can see what you're trying to do. Second, what does a little girl like _you_ know about being powerful, hmm? What would you even use your strength for?" Jiraiya leaned back against the window, crossing his arms.

 _Well. That's a loaded question._ I was caught off guard by the weight of the question. He could have just been asking me, a four year old, to see what was going on in my mind out of curiosity. Or he could be asking out of the context of his ninja background. Either way.

"I want to protect my friends and family. I'm too small and weak right now, so I couldn't help the _vi-_ " I choked a little, taking a second to gather myself and clear my throat. "I couldn't do anything to help the village, when we were attacked. I was _useless!"_

 _Rows of graves lined the clearing, every trace of the village gone._

"I know the strength to help people doesn't happen overnight and I know I'm only four, but I want to become strong to help people from going through the same thing my village did. I am _going_ to be strong! Whether you train me or not!" Jumping to my feet, I finished my speech, pointing at Jiraiya, who hadn't changed his position or expression since I had started talking. Long seconds passed with him scrutinizing me, us locked in a staredown. I refused to be cowed by the silence, but it was dragging out a lot longer than I would have liked. _Say something. Literally anything._

Finally, he barked out a laugh, startling me.

"Hm. You're pretty gutsy," he conceded. "You almost remind me of someone I used to know, years ago." His eyes drifted to the side, lost in thought for a second. I wondered who, exactly, he was remembering, but the moment passed and he turned to look at me again. I met his gaze expectantly.

"So, here's the thing. _Brat,"_ he added on at my grin, smirking at the way a glare replaced my sunny look. "I'm not going to train you in the way you're thinking, I'm a very busy man! Many important things to do, as you can imagine." He waved away my raised eyebrows and continued. But since you have nowhere else to go and you're seeking strength to protect people, I can do something for you. There's a place, hidden in the Land of Fire that helps people to become strong and protect others. I can take you there."

 _Is he…?_ I couldn't keep the smile off my face, practically vibrating. There was a voice in the back of my mind that was telling me I should be scared, running for the hills. The life of a ninja was bloody and dangerous, so much different from the cushy, relaxed pace I was used to. In my past life, I had never needed to think on my feet in order to survive or be in a situation where it was either them or me. But this was now. People here had crazy levels of strength and crazy levels of _crazy._ I wasn't going to lie and say I wasn't scared. But if I had the chance to become strong enough that I didn't have to be scared anymore, I was going to take it.

"Ahh, I can't take you there right away, though. There are some things I need to do before I can return to that place. I guess you'll just have to travel with me for a while," he said, scratching at his chin before glancing suspiciously at me. "You know how to use the bathroom yourself, right?"

The question _floored_ me from my rapt attention. "Of course I can, I'm not _that_ young! What kind of a question is that, anyway?" I shouted. He laughed my exasperation away, apparently satisfied.

"Ahh, how old are you anyway?" He questioned.

"I'm four! My birthday was, oh," The events of the past two days resurfaced in my mind. "Two days ago."

A look of profound sadness settled on his face, and he closed his eyes. The atmosphere of the room became heavy once more. It was a simple question, there was no way he could have known. I walked over to him and pressed a hand on his knee, his eyes opening to rest on me.

"It's okay," I assured him. That was all I could think to say.

"You're a pretty weird kid," he commented after a moment.

"My name isn't kid, by the way. Its Kayoko Uzumaki!" I held out my hand to shake.

He peered at my hand before shaking it with his much larger hand. "Uzumaki, huh? Nice to meet you."

That night, the nightmares didn't come.

* * *

The sun rose, bright and early the next morning, and apparently, so did Jiraiya, which meant I did too. Hooray. I was blinking sleep out of my eyes for a long time as we made our way out of the village. I wasn't used to being up early in this life, waking up whenever my body was ready to stop snoozing. While I was glad I managed to wrangle myself into going to Konoha, it was going to take a while to get used to the early mornings.

During the start of the trek, he glanced down at me and chuckled. "You know, if you want to be strong, you'll have to get used to waking up at any time."

I scowled blearily at him. "I'm four and I haven't trained at anything at all yet, remember?" I grumbled, sighing when he only smirked. "Where are we going, anyway?"

"I need to go to a village called Hakone on the border of The Land of Fire and The Land of Hot Water for business. It'll take a little while to get there, so we'll stop by different villages on the way. Don't worry, I'll make sure that they have a local onsen."

"I wasn't worried at all."

Jiraiya was used to being on the road for long days, but I had never needed to before. After hours of being on the move, I was drooping and my feet hurt. Like, those suckers were about to fall off. I tried not to complain because I would have to get used to it, but it was obvious I was flagging, especially compared to Jiraiya's long, easy strides. I missed being taller than three feet tall more than ever.

After a few days of traveling, we built a routine. I would walk for as long as I could, and when I started to wilt too much, I would find myself hoisted up onto Jiraiya's shoulders to rest for a while. It wasn't like it was a burden to him, I mean, four year olds are tiny. He probably barely felt my weight when I would cross my arms on the top of his spiky hair, rest my head on them, and take naps, lulled by the steady pace. Then, when I was rejuvenated, I would pat his head to get down, and start walking by myself again for a while.

I couldn't remember if he was this chatty in the story, but he was surprisingly good at keeping conversation flowing. At the beginning, he asked me about myself like what my favorite color was, what I thought about that thing over there, my favorite animal. When I told him I liked an assortment of animals including frogs, a result of always being the child to pick them up after the ruckus of the others finding them, he exclaimed and stopped walking.

"You should meet some of my friends, then," he said, already forming hand seals. Biting his thumb, he planted his hand on the ground and a puff of smoke appeared. When the smoke cleared, two small toads sat on the road. One was green and had a goatee and fuzzy eyebrows, the other with what sort of looked like curly purple hair.

 _Toad summons!_ Seeing ninja skills on display was always exciting to see, and I clapped my hands delightedly. I remembered them from the story, but couldn't recall their names, for some reason.

"Ah, Jiraiya-chan, did you need something?" The one with purple markings spoke first.

"I just thought I should introduce you to Kayoko, she'll be traveling with me for a while so you'll probably see her again," Jiraiya said, looking to me.

"Ah! Nice to meet you, my name is Kayoko Uzumaki!" I introduced myself, hastily remembering to bow. I could practically feel Mom admonishing my lack of manners. The toads looked sharply at Jiraiya.

"Uzumaki? Is she…?" The one with the purple markings questioned. Jiraiya shook his head minutely and she turned back to me. "Ah, I see. Nice to meet you Kayoko-chan, my name is Shima, and this is my husband, Fukasaku. We are the Elder Sage toads of Mount Myouboku."

"Nice to meet you Shima-sama and Fugasaku-sama! I think it's pretty cool that you're toads," I said, immediately cringing at myself. _Pretty cool that you're toads? Okay._ They didn't seem to mind, though, and Shima and I chatted for a little bit, Fukasaku and Jiraiya interjecting every now and then.

"So, Kayoko-chan, what brings you to travel with Jiraiya-chan?" Shima asked after some time.

"Ah, he's taking me to a place where they train people to be strong, you know?" I replied with a smile. She nodded and glanced at Jiraiya.

"This place wouldn't happen to be Konoha, would it?" She asked Jiraiya, to which he nodded.

"Yeah, she doesn't have a place to go and with all her talk about being strong, I figured the least I could do is take her there," he said, scratching at his cheek. I would probably be grateful for it forever, too.

"He says he isn't going to train me on the way there, but he totally is," I jumped in with a sunny smile at his loud and in my opinion, way too overdramatic scoff. It wouldn't kill him to point me in the right direction, at least.

 _I'll weasel at least a little training from him, guaranteed._

"I don't teach or _train_ people anymore, little girl," he peered down his nose at me and I stuck my tongue out. "So I guess you'll have to wait until we get to Konoha."

 _Just you wait, man._

After a little more time pleasantly chatting, we said goodbye to the toads who left with waves and puffs of smoke and continued on our way. Only one more day until we arrived at Hakone and my feet wouldn't feel like they were dying!

* * *

 ** _Happy new year! :)_ **


End file.
